Like most of the Barrovians, Payton went to the University of Cambridge. He did not stay long; convinced by the military lectures, he joined the 1st Birmingham Batallion, the same unit as Tea Cake Barnsley, in late 1914. Payton fought in the Battle of the Somme, and were engaged south-east of La Boiselle. On 22 July1916, he was killed in action.[1] His body was never identified, and his name is inscribed on the Thiepval Memorial.[2]